Right Time to Start a Hobby

The right time to develop a hobby

Now is the time for you to start planning your retirement hobby, if you haven't started already. Many folks see retirement as a time to begin living and pursue some creative activity in the leisure days that follow. But if you wait till after your retirement to develop your hobby, chances are that you might end up without a hobby at all. Often, retirement brings unexpected changes in one's life, changes that have not been anticipated. This leads to a sense of hapless brooding for want of things to do. But you need not despair if you have planned your retirement well.

You could start your hobby before you actually retire, or at least have a clear cut idea regarding what you want to do. A hobby can constitute anything and everything that a person likes. If you have grandchildren and have always wanted to play with them, this could be the time for doing so. Even developing deeper bonds with adult children, a spouse or aging parent could be a worthwhile "hobby," if that is what you really want to do. This is the fun of retirement-- you can do just what you want to do. No one will define a "retirement hobby" that you have to follow. What you do and how you do it, will be your choice entirely.

Which is the right hobby for you?

Anything that you enjoy doing can be a hobby, if you have the passion for it. People find it confusing to choose a hobby, because there are many things that you might want to do at the same time. We suggest you categorize all the things that interest you, and choose the ones that will be easy to start with. You might want to collect books by a particular author, but do not know how to begin, or whether it really is what you want to do. You could start by reading one of the books by the author and see how you like the work. You might want to start collecting coins and stamps, and again do not know where to begin. You could start by reading more about the subject. Read some books, look up the net, and join a group, where you will find like-minded people, who will motivate you to develop the hobby. You have to love what you are doing. Hobbies that require you to stay home can be fun, but you should also try to develop a few hobbies which require you to step out of home frequently and socialize with people. The social circle of people tends to reduce after retirement, and it will help you to have a new circle of friends, who share common interests and ideas. Go out, socialize, develop a hobby and make new friends- life has just begun!

In case you would like some more help in making up your mind we suggest that you check our section on "Lifestyle."